Seems so!
Posted on 05/22/2006 4:16:09 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
May 22, 2006 -- BALTIMORE - Was Barbaro's tragic breakdown in the Preakness Stakes a sad random incident on the racetrack or new proof of the sharp physical deterioration of the modern American thoroughbred? That question will be hotly debated everywhere in the racing industry in the aftermath of the accident that abruptly ended the brilliant 3-year-old's racing career, if not his life, and left the world in heartbreak.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Seems so!
You suggest steeplechase blood? Instead, check out the average age of a steeplechase horse.
If you have a horse you want to keep for a dozen years, you start with only the lightest exercise at two years old. You gradually increase the demands--you don't want to injure those bones and connective tissue if you want to still have your friend around after ten years. But these high-strung T-breds? Run 'em till they drop, sell the geldings and hope the mares will last long enough to breed.
I know/agree about owners.
I still think Zito and Lukas are hypocrites. I know Lukas has the most Derby starters ever. I bet Zito is second. If they think the breed is too fragile, why do they run. If they care about the horse, tell the owner no. They've each won multiple Triple Crown races, why run any more if the breed is too weak?
Both of those trainers would have run their horses 5/6 times this year, before running in the Derby. That's a lot of racing before May. Yet I can only think of three of their MANY TC starters that got hurt during the series (Grindstone, Union City, Charismatic).
Matz came into his first Derby with the freshest colt ever. First colt to win with a five week layoff. Only five races (matched a couple times.) His horse breaks down. Go figure.
"A three-yr-old horse is too young to run with weight on his back for these distances..."
No offense, but 132 years of Kentucky Derbys says they can.
How do you account for the breakdowns?
Just as breeding has produced extremely muscular chickens that can't fly because they are too muscular, thoroughbred horse breeding may also be reaching the point where some thoroughbreds can't run at their maximum effort because they are too muscular.
In that "strapping" biological machine, the bone is the weakest link.
While you may, through breeding and training, produce a more muscular and powerful horse, the bones in the lower legs are still only bones and the more muscular and powerful the horse, the more stress that is put on those bones.
Imagine putting your car's tires on a "muscular" drag racer. They would fail within a second or two.
Drag racers can perform only because their tires have been greatly enlarged to survive the increased forces. You can't do that with horse bones.
Barbaro's very "strapping athleticism" may have doomed him as his muscles were capable of generating much greater forces than thoroughbred cannon bones can safely withstand.
A horse such as Barbaro may be the "glass ceiling" of thoroughbred breeding.
And, still speaking generally, racing T-breds are so flaky that they make bad saddle horses. It's hard to get them to calm down and they are more unpredictable than other breeds. And the trotters and pacers are good for practically nothing--try riding one and keeping your teeth. Not much call for pulling buggies--carriage horses in cities are usually the draft breeds.
"I don't speak to the exceptional horse, but the considerable quantity of ruined failures."
Well, I absolutely agree with you there. Too many owners/trainers get the "Derby fever" and ruin young TBs.
Physically he looks more like an Irish warmblood than a 'modern' Thoroughbred. Today's racers have the "greyhound" build which does allow for a greater stride and speed but tends to sacrifice general bulk and bone density.
"And the trotters and pacers are good for practically nothing--try riding one and keeping your teeth."
Rode a pacer once....no thanks....LOL!
They usually wind up pulling Amish and 'old order' Mennonite buggies.
I see them all the time up above Chambersburg PA.
Hey, I hadn't thought of that! Certainly, the Amish would find a use for a "retired" pacer or trotter, and would get decent treatment for work delivered. Actually, that's a cheerful thought. So much of racing, behind the glamour the crowd sees, is depressing and sordid.
Being that they're the "plain folk", it's almost gloriously contradictory to see some flashy sorrel or glossy dapple gray stepping out in style, hauling his black-clad 'family' in their black-on-black carriages.
The horses really clip along in traffic with their ground-eating strides and you can see the pride in their eyes and the arch of their necks.
The kids hang all over them, petting them and giving them treats.
I've seen quite a few Thoroughbreds pulling too but they do tend to favor the gaited horses.
FWIW, I take my dogs exclusively to Mennonite vets in Greencastle PA.
They get treatment there like they've never gotten anywhere else.
I'd rather have a Standard than a T-Bred hauling my family, likewise. The trotters and pacers I saw auctioned also had some sense--regretted they were such poor rides and thought their futures were grim, but didn't think about the possibility that they were headed for a better life in the country where they'd be appreciated. But, this was quite a few years ago--didn't know much about the Amish when I was a teen.
The NY Post mentioned Edgar Prado got jeered by some at the Belmont yesterday in his first post-Preakness appearance.
We won't back a horse until they're 3 years old or so. Depends upon the rate of maturity, but much younger than that, their joints haven't fully formed. There's more than enough to do with respect to training in the first three years, anyway. We follow the Monty Roberts / natural horsemanship line of thinking, and we've gottten great 'join-ups' from our little group of yearlings.
None of them are racers, though.
Our lead mare would leave her hoofprints on her behind.
We could see the following happen:
1. Thoroughbreds will have to be bred with far better foot bone strength than ever before.
2. Major races will have to be mandated being spaced a minimum of three weeks apart. This may mean the Kentucky Derby is raced one week earlier, with the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes keeping their traditional weekends.
3. Drug-control policies for horses will be severely tightened.
4. The mandate of installing racing surfaces that are easier on the horses such as Polytrack.
The traditionalists may get upset about my suggested changes but Barbaro's unfortunate breakdown could be the impetus to finally have horse racing authorities start taking steps to better protect investments that often cost many millions of US dollars.
True enough.
The Quarter Horse industry has experienced this same short-sighted breeding programs that have focused on certain characteristics preferred by judges and, unfortunately, stopped breeding for characteristics and conformation that made the Quarter Horse what he is.
The Western Pleasure classes are mostly to blame for this. They preferred tall leggy horses with pencil necks, small heads and small hoofs and bulky muscularity in the front end and hindquarters.
As a result, a lot of these bulky specimens with the small hoofs end up with hoof problems.
And the Quarter Horse racing industry has further bred out the Quarter Horse to the point that many of the top Quarter horses on the track today have very little Quarter Horse blood in them. For example, Dash For Cash is only about 10% Quarter Horse and looks more like the Thoroughbred that he actually is.
But, in the last few years, several organizations have been started to encourage breeders to return to the basic Quarter Horse conformation. These organizations are known as Foundation Quarter Horse Associations. The different organizations vary in the amount of non Quarter Horse blood is allowed for registration but even the most lenient is 80% minimum.
In addition, a lot of show judges have seen the error of their ways and are beginning to award points for foundation Quarter Horse conformation.
True... and generally, that happens... there is a pendulum swing in fads and trends, the key is to catch it early enough, while there's still good remedies in the gene pool.
From the NTRA interview with Barbaro's vet:
Media: Dr. Richardson, just out of curiosity. In our quest for speed in horse racing are we breeding a less sturdy horse?
Dean Richardson: Categorically no. No. I think really when you - really, look at thoroughbred race horses. I mean, the incidence of injury in thoroughbred in racing is not any higher than it ever was. It's still a risky endeavor. Horses are going fast. These are massive animals running fast. There's no evidence whatsoever that the prevalence of injury in thoroughbred racing is increasing.
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